The Essence of China vacation

Planet

Waste and litter is a serious issue in Tibet. We provide all travelers with reusable bags and chopsticks in order to avoid waste. For the train journey, we also encourage our travelers to buy food with less packaging and share more to avoid generating plastic wastes or general waste of food.

We encourage the use of “tea flasks” for drinking water (or tea, like the locals do!) so as not to purchase multiple plastic bottles. Safe drinking water is available in all our accommodation and transport. Any bottles that are purchased are given to the community of waste collectors who rely on this for an income.
You will expect to use a variety of transport on this trip including subway, public buses, overnight trains where we get to ride along just like the locals do and minimize our carbon footprint wherever possible.

People

All left over food after our group meals is collected, boxed up and left for homeless people. During the trip, our local leader will take the time to give all passengers and understanding of the local culture and about people you will meet along the way.
We will travel by trail and stay in the 2nd or 3rd class to give the maximum opportunity to meet other people, share stories, food, games and the journey with local travelers.
Our tour leaders are all Chinese locals and they have received substantial training on the job to further develop their skills and careers. You are free to join your leader for a walking tour through Old Beijing along the ancient network of alleyways and lanes known as hutong to see how important it is to protect cultural heritage in the face of rapid development. In Beijing, we’ll visit our friends at Beijing Huiling (meaning "wise spirit") - a special project for people with intellectual disabilities and learn about the good work to support this special local community